John 6:16-24
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. [1]
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Am I ever afraid of Jesus? Of what He’s doing? The disciples were. When they saw Jesus coming to him, walking on the water, their first reaction was fear.
Apparently it was not an unusual thing for Jesus to go off by Himself as He did after the feeding of the 5000, and so the disciples went on ahead of Him, no doubt expecting that He would join them later at Capernaum. Perhaps this had happened before, and Jesus wanted some quiet “abide” time being by Himself, walking or taking someone another boat.
But this time He reveals His divine power over nature. He had just done that in another way by multiplying the loaves and fishes. Now He reveals Himself just for His disciples. Such a display illustrates that He is Lord over creation, and points to the hope that in Him all creation will be restored. But the disciples didn’t recognize Him at first, and didn’t recognize what He was doing and so they were frightened. A simple word from Him, identifying Himself, put their fears aside, and then with Him in the boat they reached their destination.
So what struck me about this today is the fact that the initial reaction to Jesus showing Himself as Lord of Creation was fear. They were afraid because they did not recognize what was happening as coming from Jesus. Once they knew it was Him, all was well.
And so this leads back to my first question: Am I ever afraid of Jesus? Or what He is doing? Do I fail to recognize His hand in the events of my life, and so allow myself to slip into fear? He is Lord of Creation, not just when walking on the water. He is Lord of my life and not just in the big things that happen. And He is always with me, as much as He was in that boat with the disciples.
So my prayer today is a prayer for faith, faith that arises from remembering that the Lord is always with me. But also I am praying for discernment to recognize Jesus when He is walking on the water. In other words to discern the working of my Savior in the events of my life. To notice the “Kairos” moments when the kingdom is breaking in, and that in recognizing them, my reaction would be faith not fear. For He still speaks to me – and to you – “It is I; don’t be afraid.”
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 6:16–24). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
